


Pushing the Limits

by SmolDargon



Series: Adventures in Anatomy [15]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, anatomical discussion, survival discussion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-20 18:28:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30009117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmolDargon/pseuds/SmolDargon
Summary: It's no secret humans are tough. But how tough are they?
Relationships: Papyrus/Original Human Character
Series: Adventures in Anatomy [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2205429
Kudos: 6





	Pushing the Limits

**Author's Note:**

> TW just in case, the human has some pretty strong thoughts about what to do if you're marooned at sea with nothing to float on.

It was once again movie night in the human's house. This time, she had chosen one she had been meaning to watch for a while. It was a surprisingly good movie, despite centering almost entirely on a single character; a man whose arm became trapped during a climb, forcing him to hack it off to escape.

"THIS SEEMS HIGHLY IMPLAUSIBLE, ARE YOU SURE THIS IS AN ACCURATE DEPICTION OF THIS STORY?"

He shot her a dubious look, and was surprised to find her looking quite seriously in his direction.

"Sure, they might have taken some artistic liberties, but the basic story is true: he cut his own arm off so he could escape."

He seemed unsure. Monsters certainly wouldn't survive such trauma. The fact that Undyne was missing a whole eye and alive was nothing short of miraculous by their standards. But then again, humans were known to be incredibly resilient.

"THIS KIND OF THING MUST BE RELATIVELY UNCOMMON THEN, RIGHT?"

She shrugged.

"I mean, I personally only know one person with so much disfigurement, and I don't know the circumstances. Could be she was born that way, maybe something happened, I'm not sure. But I know she's only got one arm."

"WOWIE... HUMANS ARE TOUGH."

She smiled broadly. Survivalism was one of her favorite topics, evidenced by her love of games like The Long Dark, as well as her propensity for collecting survival gear and rations. He was fairly certain the property had a bomb shelter on it, though whether she had it built or it existed already and she just stocked it was up for debate.

"Yep! We can survive some crazy stuff. We sent people to Antarctica. They died. So our solution was to send more people. We figured it out eventually. We're..... unconventional. But persistent."

A thought occurred to him.

"THIS IS HOW YOU FIGURED OUT MEDICINE, ISN'T IT?"

"Indeed. Lots of people died before we figured out that contaminated water could harbor cholera. But it goes the other way, too. It took one guy's publicity stunt to prove that tomatoes were, in fact, edible."

He snorted. For all their intelligence, humans could believe some pretty silly things at times. He wondered if the human body actually even had limits.

"WHAT IS THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE A HUMAN COULD SURVIVE?"

She thought for a moment.

"I suppose it depends on the gear. If you threw me as I am into cold water, I could theoretically survive it as cold as forty degrees Fahrenheit. Theoretically. I would honestly rather die than be that cold."

He scoffed, rolling his eyelights.

"YOU'RE SO DRAMATIC SOMETIMES."

"Says the man who would literally rather die than eat a fast food burger," she shot back.

He looked offended.

"HEY! GRILLBY'S HAS ENOUGH GREASE IN A SINGLE BURGER TO CLOG EVERY BLOOD VESSEL IN YOUR BODY! IT'S PRACTICALLY ALREADY DEADLY!"

"Pfft, whatever!", she cackled.

He considered his next question carefully, knowing she was probably going to go off on a tangent if he pressed the subject.

"WELL, HOW LONG CAN HUMANS GO WITHOUT FOOD?"

She happily offered an answer, "Provided they have access to water, an average of two weeks. Heavier folks have more fat reserves and could go longer, however, digesting one's own fat and muscle mass tends to put the body in a state of ketoacidosis, which is itself fatal if left untreated."

He wasn't sure what some of that meant, but he doubted she would be able to explain it without getting too deep into human physiology.

"AND HOW LONG CAN YOU GO WITHOUT WATER?"

She responded quickly. Clearly she had done her research.

"Depends. A week at most with no water. If you're stranded in the ocean, you can technically consume the salt water, but it will destroy your kidneys. However, consuming salt water can enable you to survive. See, if you go without any water, you'll lose consciousness around day four or five. You'll die around day six or seven. If you drink saltwater, you'll still die around day six or seven. But you can remain conscious for an extra day or two. That might be enough to allow an ecosystem to establish itself on whatever piece of flotsam you're floating on, which in turn attracts small fish, which attract bigger fish, which all have water. Fish eyes are 98% water, and you can also drink their spinal fluid. The ocean is a terrifying place to be marooned. Almost rather be cold."

He was stunned into silence. She had _definitely_ done her research. He almost wondered if she had personal experience, but considering she couldn't even tread water, it was unlikely.

"YOU..... SUGGEST EATING FISH EYES? STARS, I'M GLAD UNDYNE ISN'T AROUND TO HEAR THIS."

She wheezed, nodding in agreement.

"AND IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO FLOAT ON?"

"Oh, you're fucked. Just find something sharp and kill yourself. Floating solo in the ocean is basically a death sentence. People have survived it, but the odds are incredibly slim. Especially since such a small thing would have a hard time attracting the attention of rescuers."

Her frank answer startled him, but then again, she had lived a long time in black and white; she was accustomed to making difficult decisions, and making them quickly and without regret. She had likely already weighed her options for many unfavorable situations. Best to move on to a different topic, he decided. He thought back to her last hospital visit, remembering what she had said about blood.

"SO, THERE'S AN AWFUL LOT OF BLOOD IN THE HUMAN BODY."

She seemed to sense his line of questioning, launching into a brief explanation.

"Yes, the average blood volume for males is five liters, and for females is four liters. We can survive losing around forty percent of that. At maximum. Pushing the limits. Lose more than that, you'll definitely die. Forty percent loss is still enough to kill you if you're not careful."

He nodded, storing the information away for future reference.

"OH! WHAT ABOUT THE HEAT? YOU MENTIONED YOU'RE ORIGINALLY FROM A WARMER CLIMATE, DOES THAT MAKE IT EASIER?"

She considered this for a moment.

"I'm originally from Louisiana. It's actually comparable in terms of heat, but what gets you there is the humidity, the amount of moisture in the air. It makes things....", she paused, searching for the proper word, "...heavy? If you shower in the morning and go outside, you will legitimately not dry off by evening. The poor horses will break a sweat just standing around. One hundred percent humidity is common in summertime, and it makes things feel literally ten degrees hotter."

He looked impressed, leaning in with interest.

"Meanwhile, I also lived in west Texas for a few years. Just as hot, but dry. We would go literally months with nary a drop of rain. Then it would pour for like an hour, flooding the streets, and then it would be dry again for months. It's so dry out there, I got regular nosebleeds for the first month or so, and every winter thereafter."

"WOWIE. THAT SOUNDS LIKE QUITE A CHANGE FROM YOUR HOME."

"It was. Moving here is nice, feels more like home. But anyway, to actually answer your question, we can survive heat to a pretty extreme degree. Places in the Middle East see temperatures over a hundred almost daily. The important factor is our internal temperature. The average body temp for a human is about ninety eight degrees. We can survive our body getting a few degrees hotter, but as you start hitting a hundred-six, seven, eight, you start running the risk of brain damage. We can literally get overheated enough to cook our brains. Isn't that the coolest shit ever?!"

She was really worked up by now, excited to share her passion for biology and survival. Papyrus was suitably horrified, but did his best to maintain a neutral expression. She didn't often get this excited.

"THAT IS INDEED PRETTY COOL."

As much as he would have liked to continue their discussion, it was about time to pick another movie. He picked a nature documentary, hoping to piggyback on her scientific mood. She was delighted when she saw that it featured African cats.

"OOH! Did you know cheetahs can overheat, too? They can run like sixty miles an hour, but if they go at it for more than like thirty seconds, their body overheats and they can give themselves brain damage! It's because they have these short snouts, but gazelles don't have that problem because of the terminates in their muzzles, so--"

She went on and on. Clearly, her knowledge base was broader than she had originally let on. He didn't mind. She was fun to listen to.

**Author's Note:**

> In case you're wondering, they watched 127 Hours first, and followed up with the episode of "I, Predator" that covers cheetahs. The human is a giant freakin' nerd.


End file.
